A Drink Before the War

With novels like Mystic River and Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane has dramatically altered the landscape of the crime thriller—while boldly overstepping the boundaries that have long separated mystery from literature. Now two of his sensational early novels have been combined in a single volume—two gritty and mesmerizing masterworks of suspense featuring the private eye duo of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.

Great beginning to thriller series

First of all, I love Dennis Lehane's books "Shutter Island" and "Mystic River". I did not previously know about the private detective series he wrote..Show More » centering around Kenzie & Gennaro. The city of Boston (working class section) is almost the third character in the story. I really loved both main characters and worried about them throughout the story -- and believe me, it got scary at times. I look forward to reading all of these books in order. So glad that you can count on Audible to carry the full series. Jonathan Davis did a really good job narrating. He was an excellent choice for how I imagined the voice of Kenzie. Read this series in order, but start soon. My time was well spent listening to this audiobook.

Darkness, Take My Hand

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro's latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist running scared from a vengeful Irish mob. The private investigators know something about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate.

Wow- outrageously amazing thriller!!

One of the best thrillers I've ever read. Amazing depth of characters, twists and turns of the plot – so real, iso enthralling - I literally could not..Show More » stop reading this until I got to the end. GREAT story!!

Sacred: A Novel

Dying billionaire Trevor Stone hires private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaroto find his missing daughter. Grief-stricken over the death of her mother and the impending death of her father, Desiree Stone has been missing for three weeks. So has the first investigator Stone hired to find her: Jay Becker, Patrick's mentor.

Gone, Baby, Gone: A Novel

The tough neighborhood of Dorchester is no place for the innocent or the weak. A territory defined by hard heads and even harder luck, its streets are littered with the detritus of broken families, hearts, dreams. Now, one of its youngest is missing. Private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro don't want the case.

Wonderful writing,

but the subject matter and ending were depressing and dark.

I’ve read three Lehane books. All three of them have horrible things happening t..Show More »o children: a father prostituting his son, pedophiles kidnaping and torturing children, drug addicted mothers ignoring and neglecting children. This book has pedophiles torturing children and disgustingly neglectful mothers.

The mystery was solved, but the end was depressing. The novel is about injustice, the poor, drug users, race and similar problems.

I love Lehane’s writing - the way he describes scenes, people, clothes, emotions, smells, - and his dialogue. I feel like I’m living it. It’s very full writing. I’d probably give it 5 stars if it had a more fulfilling ending.

Patrick and Angie investigate the kidnaping of a little girl with complications along the way. This is intricately plotted - twists and turns I didn’t expect. Bubba is my favorite character. I would have liked a larger role for him, but the story was about other things and was good.

Prayers for Rain

What if a total stranger was watching your every move? What if he read your mail, listened in on your phone calls, knew what you spoke of only to your most trusted confidants? What if he learned Your routines? Your weaknesses? And, most important, what if he discovered those things you love and cling to . . . and then he stripped you of them? And sat back to watch while you self-destructed?

Better than Burke B-4 He Preached!

Once upon a time James Lee Burke was the poet of crime fiction. Then he turned Dave Robicheaux into a blunt polemicist for his own politics. Still, ..Show More »those early Burke books were like reading melodies. Well, Dennis Lehane has that power to poetry without the propaganda. And in an entirely different way, Jonathan Davis rivals the legendary Mark Hammer as a story teller.

Look, "Prayers For Rain" ain't great literature, but it is hot mystery writing. And Kenzie and Gennaro are one of the memorable partnerships. Okay... this is a bloody book, Lehane does that, along with dimming the story lights to a darkness that's almost spooky.

But once again, after more than a year away from this ensemble, it was like coming home. I'll get another one in the series and the only advice I've got for you is to start at the beginning to avoid spoilers that might ruin your enjoyment in watching these people grow as the epic unfolds.

Moonlight Mile

Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from a Boston neighborhood 12 years ago. Kenzie and Gennaro risked everything to find the young girl - only to orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and a broken home. Now Amanda is sixteen - and gone again. Haunted by their consciences, Kenzie and Gennaro revisit the case that troubled them the most. Their search leads them into a world of identity thieves, methamphetamine dealers, and more....

A brilliant book. His best by far.

That's (a) goofy question.This is about the eighth book I have read by Mr. Lehane, with (I believe) Jonathan Davis narrating all of them, althoug..Show More »h maybe not. In any case, this book is a powerful demonstration of all of the gifts of both of these men. I will also note that this book is half the length of his standard book, and I think it's no coincidence that it's the best of the lot. The plot covers a lot of distance, but it never gets out of control, even when we are treated to the monstrous Russian gangsters who do truly unspeakable things. Prepare yourself for that. The gore is a little over the top, but I will grant him license (as if he cares about whom I grant what) because both the stories and the characters are all brilliantly written. In addition, Mr. Lehane maintains his extraordinary descriptive ability when it comes to almost all aspects of his beloved Boston. And Mr. Davis is likewise fantastic at reproducing the many Boston accents and sub-dialects, the sounds of the streets, and even of the suburbs, although this last is the least of his concerns. I won't give you the plot, as it is much too complicated, too multi-faceted to describe in such a small space; plus, you deserve to have the pleasure of discovering it yourself. I do wonder about several things, which gives you something of an idea of how these books and their characters have come alive for me. In Moonlight Mile Patrick and Angie have a four-year-old daughter, Gabriella. They are married. And I think it is not spoiling it to reveal that at the end of the book Patrick decides to leave his profession. You have to wonder if Mr. Lehane will develop some other characters, or what. I'll be glad to see. The Drop is also a great book, and it does not belong to the Kenzie-Gennaro series.

Moonlight Mile

Sixteen-year-old Amanda McCready has disappeared. Her anxious aunt contacts Patrick Kenzie to investigate. It is not the first time she has gone missing, as Patrick well knows - he was the investigator who worked on her case when she was kidnapped before, as a four-year-old.But this is not a simple case of a runaway girl.